Genesis 41:33 Commentary and Bible Study

The dream being interpreted, Joseph follows up with advice on how to handle the situation. He is thinking about what God is doing by revealing these things in advance, and why this has happened. Although the dream did not give clear instructions, the practical steps required are embedded in its symbolism – the lean cows eating up the well favoured cows. How that could be brought about is what Joseph now turns to. He immediately translates the symbolism of the dream into practical steps, which, again, seem obvious in hindsight, but which would have seemed outstandingly wise to Pharoah. Joseph was going to be the means of the deliverance of the world of those days, as Christ is the Saviour of the world from sin.The good years are coming first, and the excess from those years must be stored and stored, against the coming bad years. This was going to be a lot of work, and be troublesome and expensive. Nobody would bother to do this unless they believed the interpretation of the dream. No one likes to be taxed, and what Joseph was advocating was certainly a tax on the people to remove and store their surplus produce. No wonder Joseph says that the grain should be gathered, stored, and then guarded. Joseph’s advice was very practical, and no doubt he drew on his years of experience in running the affairs first of Potiphar’s house, and then of the prison. God had prepared him for this day in ways he could not have imagine. Was it indicated to Joseph he was the one? We cannot say for sure. Joseph was not necessarily speaking of himself when he advised Pharoah to look for a discreet and wise man. Certainly modesty did not allow him to take for himself a position to which Pharoah had not yet appointed him.